'I've watched this happen for four years': Northwestern University grapples with string of suicides

Stephanie Bernstein

Northwestern University senior Angelica Wilson, 22, pictured during Senior Week in June 2018, died later that month, and authorities ruled she died of a suicide. She was one of four Northwestern students who have died of a suicide this year.

Northwestern University senior Angelica Wilson, 22, pictured during Senior Week in June 2018, died later that month, and authorities ruled she died of a suicide. She was one of four Northwestern students who have died of a suicide this year. (Stephanie Bernstein)

Alarmed by the suicides of four students this year, including a sophomore found dead in his dormitory in late November, Northwestern University is boosting staff at the campus’ main counseling center.

Two new employees will join its mental health center, Counseling and Psychological Services, to perform suicide screenings and clinical support services, Vice President for Student Affairs Patricia Telles-Irvin announced in a message to students last week.

“I share your concerns about the need for the university to respond to the fullest extent possible to issues surrounding students who may be struggling, and we have worked diligently and deliberately to do so,” Telles-Irvin wrote Dec. 5.

Jessell, originally from Delray Beach, Fla., is at least the ninth Northwestern student to die of a suicide since May 2013, according to a series of news reports, including the Daily Northwestern’s. Four of these, including Jessell, have been in 2018 alone. Junior Kenzie Krogh died in February, senior Ananya Agrawal died in May and senior Angelica Wilson died in June.

The medical examiner concluded suicide was the manner of death for Krogh, Agrawal and Wilson, though the causes differed. Family members of the students could not be reached for comment.

Courtney Chatterton, a senior who was friends with Agrawal, described him as a “huge goofball” and said his death came out of the blue.

“People have died of suicide every year I’ve been at Northwestern,” Chatterton said. “You become completely desensitized. Then it happens to someone you know.”

Even before the most recent announcement of increased staff, Northwestern officials have been keenly aware of the issue. The availability and adequacy of mental health support long has riled students and parents, and prompted a campus protest on Wednesday.

Before the fall quarter began, Telles-Irvin sent a letter to parents detailing the mental health services available on campus. As part of that, Northwestern President Morton Schapiro emphasized the need for mutual outreach.

“We also need parents and families, staff and faculty, and fellow students to all work together to alert us if they see a member of the community struggling, so that we can provide the necessary support,” he wrote to the campus community.

Northwestern’s experience is not uncommon among universities and is not happening in a vacuum, experts say, with students increasingly arriving on campus with mental health issues. Multiple schools nationally have experienced a series of deaths among talented students whose lives seemed so full of promise. National studies reveal an increasing demand for mental health services and growing proportions of students reporting suicidal thoughts, even though the actual rate of suicide has not grown much, experts say.

“What’s increased more dramatically is more students both coming to campus with mental health issues and developing mental health issues while they’re in college,” said Nance Roy, chief clinical officer at Jed Foundation, a New York-based nonprofit for suicide prevention in young adults. “Certainly there’s a tremendous increase in the number of students who are seeking help, which is good news. The downside to that is it’s very hard to keep up with demand.”

Although every case is different, and it is impossible to pinpoint exactly what leads to suicide, the deaths of four undergraduates in a year has prompted students to question what may be contributing to the issue and if the university was doing enough in response.

“I think people are just opening their eyes to it more and thinking about why it’s happening,” said Christine Lee, 20, a junior. “I know not everyone struggles with mental health, but I can’t help but wonder if the environment here contributes to that at all. There’s a lot of pressure here, definitely, to be the best.”

Suicide is the second leading cause of death for people aged 10 to 34, according to 2016 data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It is the third most common cause of death for Illinoisans ages 1 to 17, 18 to 24 and 25 to 44, according to recent data from the Illinois Department of Public Health.

In 2017, 162 young adults in Illinois aged 18 to 24 took their own lives.

A 2018 study by Brigham and Women’s Hospital, which is linked with Harvard Medical School, concluded 1 in 5 college students has considered suicide. An annual report from the Center for Collegiate Mental Health at Pennsylvania State University found that college counseling centers recorded increases in the number of students seeking treatment who represented a “threat to self” for seven straight years.

Cindy Liu, lead author of the Brigham study, said in a statement that her team’s survey results showed “an urgent need to help students reduce their experience of overwhelming levels of stress during college,” and that exposure to stress is strongly linked to diagnoses of mental health struggles, self-harm and suicidal ideation.

Northwestern has partnered with the Jed Foundation to assess its approach to student mental health over a four-year period. One strategy growing out of that has been to encourage a “see something, say something” approach for students. Educating students about the available mental health services also is a required part of undergraduate orientation.

“We know that students often turn to each other for help before they turn to anyone else,” said Roy of the Jed Foundation. “We really need to reinforce the notion that everyone has a role to play in protecting student health. There’s no wrong door for students to walk through to get support.”

At Northwestern, a recurring complaint about campus mental health services is that its mental health center is understaffed and students face long waitlists to see a counselor.

That criticism mounted after the 2015 death of Jason Arkin, a junior from Kansas. His parents told the Daily Northwestern that he had been put on a waitlist for counseling despite having a documented history of depression and expressing thoughts of self-harm.

The Arkins later helped launch a suicide prevention organization called Speak Up and have routinely called on Northwestern to improve its approach to the issue.

Former student Stephanie Bernstein said she also struggled finding treatment for depression and anxiety, and repeatedly wrote to campus leaders in hopes of sparking improvements in campus mental health care, but to no avail. On graduation day, not long after she had sent one such email, her close friend Angelica Wilson was found dead.

“This didn’t just happen with Angel or Ananya. I’ve watched this happen for four years,” said Bernstein, who graduated from Northwestern this year. “I think universities have a responsibility to take care of these students.”

Telles-Irvin said many students say they have benefited from the university’s mental health services; indeed, some students praised Northwestern’s efforts.

“I know when I first came here, they made sure we knew that if we were struggling, there are all kinds of resources we can use,” said Erika Arvay, 23, a graduate student. “I don’t really know what else they could do.”

But if Jessell’s death showed anything, it’s that the problem remains on campus.

“I think people are sadly used to it now,” said Amaka Nwaezeigwe, 18, a sophomore. “For some of the other students who died, it didn’t affect me as much. But (Daniel) was in my class. It’s a weird concept to think someone in my class who would have graduated with me is gone now.”